Attachments for ladders and stepladders have been proposed. These attachments typically are provided as components separate from the ladder and securable (usually detachable) to either a stile or step of the ladder.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3104859 and 3108776 disclose attachments mountable relative to a step of a ladder. The attachment of U.S. Pat. No. 3104859 is adapted to carry a paint bucket or can and is releasably received over the step. The attachment of U.S. Pat. No. 3108776 is also adapted to receive a paint can but in this case the attachment is releasably secured to the step.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3052442 and 3131900 disclose attachments mountable relative to a stile of a ladder. In U.S. Pat. No. 3052442 the attachment is releasably received by the stile whilst in U.S. Pat. No. 3131900 the attachment is releasably secured to the stile.
All of these earlier proposals were only suitable for holding paint cans and because they were components separate from the ladder itself they needed to be removed either for proper operation of the ladder where that ladder was an extension ladder or needed to be removed when the ladder was collapsed for storage.
Other earlier proposals suggested the use of a removable shelf on a ladder with the shelf able to be mounted at a desired step on the ladder. U.S. Pat. No. 2166255 discloses such a proposal. This shelf was not an integral part of the ladder and would have to be removed when the ladder was collapsed. In addition, because the shelf needed to be placed on a step intermediate the first step and the seat or platform on the ladder, the versatility of the ladder was restricted.
U.S. Pat. No. 2109886 disclosed a ladder having an integral platform at the top thereof movable between a storage position and an operative position in which it was held by pins. The platform was adapted to hold tools and in addition a paint can could be stood on the platform. In this proposal it was necessary to move the platform between its two positions and if a platform was not required and it was left in its storage position during use of the ladder--the ladder did not have a useful step or platform at its upper end. If a step was required the platform needed to be moved to its operative position in which is projected a substantial distance laterally of the ladder and this was undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 2643808 was provided with an uppermost step or platform having two sections pivotally secured to one another. The sections could be moved between an overlapping configuration to provide a narrow platform and a configuration where the sections were side by side to provide a wide platform. This platform, whilst an improvement on that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2109886, was not versatile in its use for receiving tools or a paint can. In addition, the platform in its position on the same side of the stepladder as the steps made that ladder difficult to use. The platform projected laterally over the ladder and made lower steps difficult to negotiate. This platform could not readily be employed with ladders other than stepladders.